The Bass Pro Shop is near to the Patriot Place where the New England Football team calls home. The shop is a misnomer - its really a mega store for killing animals. The scale is made possible with computerized inventory management. Its the opposite of a flea market where everything is infused with personal memory. The store is decorated with fake nature. The central feature is a waterfall, several moose and a whale. Everywhere you look there is quality taxidermy, weapons, and the paraphernalia needed to join the hunter culture. This photograph was taken of the display atop the gun counter. It reminded me of natural science.

When my son was very young we would go to the natural history museum in Cleveland Ohio. Before Animal Planet the most vivid imaginings of habitat were nature dioramas. I loved the way real physical objects would magically transform into a painting. My son would get jittery around the taxidermy. Once, I told him the animals were stuffed with fluff and most had been dead for quite some time. Like pillows? he asked. "Yes, like pillows" I answered.